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Salvationist Olympian breaks world record TORUN, POLAND
BRITISH Olympian Ian Richards, a Salvationist at Worthing, broke the world indoor record for the 3,000m race walk in the men’s 70 to 74-year-old age group (M74) at the World Masters Athletic Championships Indoor. Ian’s time of 15 minutes 19.64 seconds was almost 20 seconds faster than the previous world record, and by winning his race he helped Britain’s M70 team win silver medals for the championships.
Ian represented Great Britain in the men’s 50km race walk at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, finishing in 11th place, and won the M65 5,000m race walk at the World Masters Athletics Championships Indoor four years ago. – A. R.
LEICESTER SOUTH: Swansea Songsters presented three music-filled meetings to capacity congregations. The Saturday festival included ‘Hymns And Arias’, ‘Wonder, Love And Praise’ and ‘One Day’, a 25-minute musical accompanied by a multimedia presentation. – W. B.
WILLIAM BOOTH COLLEGE: More than 60 people gathered for a weekend of teaching and fellowship in connection with South London Division’s Growing Leaders Programme. The weekend had two streams – youth and adults – and included time for networking, prayer, worship and lots of laughter. The final session, led by Divisional Commander Major Val Mylechreest, brought the two streams together. Many people responded to an invitation to dedicate their lives at the mercy seat. – I. W.
ON behalf of the General, the Chief of the Staff has announced the appointment of Major Julie Forrest as the international liaison officer for dialogue on human sexuality.
This appointment comes after consultation at the International Conference of Leaders in November 2017, which agreed to a commitment to ongoing dialogue and the preparation and distribution of resources to assist conversations in territories around the world.
Out of this dialogue came a recommendation that a ‘champion’ be appointed at IHQ to encourage and support the efforts of territories in carrying out conversations on this theme. Julie will be the point person at International Headquarters. She will work with territories, commands and regions in gathering feedback on present efforts, engaging with point persons in each location and, where requested, facilitating training opportunities for conversation facilitators. Julie will also work closely with the International Social Justice Commission, International Theological Coun cil and International Moral And Social Issues Council, as further resources are developed.
The Chief of the Staff encouraged people to pray for Julie ‘as she assumes this key role in enabling Salvationists’ dialogue around the world about this important element of holy living in the 21st century’. – A. R.
Several animals attend a bring your pet to church day arranged by the parent-and-toddler group at Eastbourne Old Town
Salvationist 13 April 2019 5 Thai TV company visits Salvation Army bus project CARDIFF THAILAND’S PPTV spent an afternoon and evening filming The Salvation Army’s bus project in Cardiff, as part of the ‘Around The World With Karuna’ series, which reports on social, political and cultural issues.
The Salvation Army’s bus parks in Cathays Park, Cardiff ’s civic centre, five evenings each week and works with other charities helping people experiencing homelessness to find a bed for the night, and provides refreshments, warm clothing and bedding.
After receiving permission from the Army to film the bus project, the company decided to make a report about homelessness in Cardiff and what is being done to help those experiencing it.
‘The bus project is part of an Army tradition of going out on the streets to meet people in need and providing support,’ said Yvonne Connolly, Homelessness Services Unit Regional Manager. ‘It was a pleasure to welcome PPTV and we thank them warmly for taking an interest in our work.’ – A. R.
Waltham Abbey corps officer Major Sharon King presents a bouquet to Rene McCracken on Mothering Sunday, which was Rene’s 100th birthday
KILMARNOCK: Sarah McDonald and Ruby Whitaker hosted a fundraising ceilidh to support their respective future ventures. Sarah is hoping to join a school aid programme visiting Malawi next year, and Ruby is visiting Japan this year with the Ayrshire Fiddle Orchestra. Friends formed the ceilidh band for the evening. – E. F.
BIRKENHEAD: An afternoon prayer walk in the town centre included prayers outside super markets and a coffee shop where people will be able to see the Good Friday walk of witness. – A. T.
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A representative from The Lions Clubs International, Christine Scriven, presents Market Rasen corps leader Territorial Envoy Terence Carpenter with a cheque for £200, which will go towards the community fund; also pictured are programme manager Corps Treasurer Ida Franklin and charity shop volunteer Tom Steer
CLOWNE: More than 50 people attended a Thursday Night Together bowls evening arranged by Tony Heap. The eight competing teams brought laughter and cheers from the audience, and raised £130 for corps funds. Pictured with Tony is the winning team of Matt Widdowson, James Baddams, Alex Sennett and Jordan Coates. – M. N.
SOUTH LONDON: More than 300 people from throughout the division gathered for spring tea parties at Staines and Catford, themed Bloomin’ Marvellous. The event featured the divisional band, Staines Ladies’ Voices, Bromley Community Choir, the South London Fellowship Band and the DHQ team, who not only led the event but also formed a ukulele band. Guest soloist Jonathan Searle (flugelhorn, Boscombe) played at both events and Director of Family Ministries Major David Betteridge (THQ) was the guest speaker. The events raised £600 for the helping-hand appeal. – I. W.
PAISLEY: A capacity crowd attended the first family service when the recently formed learners band took part. The young people and adult learners featured ‘Jericho’ and ‘Silver Trumpet’, after which Abigail McDonald and Harmonie Heron used sign language as ‘Father, We Adore You’ was played. James Barton-Crawford was the bass soloist and his sister, Abbey, joined Anneroy and Rhiah RakeshKannen in playing the cornet trio ‘Abide With Me’. – C. T.
Josephine Cooper, Joan Barber, Dorothy Jones and CSM Mary Booth arrange Mother’s Day gifts at Tunstall
Salvation Army rehabilitation clinic receives praise GLOUCESTER HOUSE
GLOUCESTER House is a drug and alcohol rehabilitation clinic that houses 13 people. In its annual report the Care Quality Commission gave the clinic an overall rating of ‘outstanding’. The report notes that staff respect the residents’ privacy and dignity, valuing them as individuals and treating them with compassion and kindness.
One resident said that Gloucester House is a loving and caring environment and it gives people space to identify issues and deal with them. Another resident stated that he had been ‘loved back to life’.
Susan Tollington, service manager of Gloucester House, said: ‘This is a caring, calming and supportive environment where we recognise and understand the damage caused to individuals, families and communities through substance misuse. This latest report really is testament to the hard work, professionalism and kindness of our talented team and I am very proud of them.’ – A. R.
One-man sleep-out to fight homelessness LOCHGELLY
HARRY Webster made the corps proud when he undertook a lone sleep-out to raise money to help people experiencing homelessness. He also happened to choose the coldest night of the year to do so.
He pitched his one-man tent in Benarty Miners Memorial Garden, not only raising money but also attracting a lot of interest from the community, which gave him an opportunity to highlight the work of The Salvation Army. Harry presented Assistant Territorial Director of Homelessness Services (North) Malcolm Page with a cheque for £2,445, which will support Edinburgh’s Niddry Street Regener8+ Project. – M. M.
BIRKENHEAD: Members of the Mother’s Day congregation wrote blessings and placed them on a cross, while being encouraged to pray aloud at the same time. Corps officer Major Jonathan Hamilton spoke about the ‘Spoon family’, relating spiritual lives and gifts to spoons. Everyone cele brated with the mothers present, and reflected on the special women in their lives. – A. T.
Guisborough corps pianist Joan Welburn, aged 90 and registered blind, plays piano for three hours raising more than £700 for cancer research; her repertoire included Army marches, songs and hymns, classical tunes, songs from musicals and wartime favourites
